News: Iran human rights

Suicide Rate Worsening in Iran

Written by Staff Writer on 10 September 2018.

By Staff Writer

As the political, social and economic crises in Iran worsen, the suicide rate is also increasing. Life is becoming increasingly desperate and difficult in the country and more and more people are turning to suicide.

It is not just one particular demographic that is affected – all social classes are seeing suicide rates rise.

The government has a tendency to underplay certain situations and hide the real statistics, but even in this situation it has called the prevalence of suicide in the country an “epidemic”. The state-rum Khabar Online publication has said that suicide rates among women rose by 71 per cent among men and 66 per cent among women between 2011 and 2015.

Suicide is also very prevalent among the young people of Iran.

A member of the Ministry of Health has said that there has been an increase in the use of aluminium phosphide to commit suicide. The highly poisonous toxic compound is commonly used as a pesticide or as a rodenticide. It is used to preserve rice in Iran and there has been a campaign calling for it to stop being used as a pesticide in the country. The Ministry of Health has said that the purchase of aluminium phosphide needs to be more controlled.

There are numerous contributing factors to this alarming trend including the high levels of unemployment and poverty and mental disorders and depression.

Iran has been classed as one of the worst countries for depression. The dire social conditions are creating a society in which there is very little hope for a bright future and many people are developing chronic disorders. Suicide has sadly become the only way out of this misery for many people. The Ministry of Health estimates that almost a quarter of Iranian adults have had some sort of depression during their lifetime. The average rate in Iranian capital Tehran is almost a third.

Reports indicate that the majority of suicides in Iran happen because of financial difficulties. Especially in the last couple of years, many Iranians have seen their financial situation go from bad to worse.

There have been shocking stories about Iranians killing themselves in drastic ways, such as the man who set himself on fire after his shop was closed down. He chose to do it outside the city’s municipality building.

Stories like these show an increasing trend of Iranians who want to carry out one last act of defiance and protest against the Iranian regime.

The regime has said that more than 3,300 women have committed suicide in the past year however it is believed that the actual figure is much higher. Self-emulation among women in Iran is very common and in fact Iran has the highest rate of this form of suicide in the whole of the Middle East. Reports indicate that a boy aged only 12 hanged himself after his mother sold his bike in order to be able to afford their rent.

For as long as the current crises in Iran continue, it is expected that the suicide rate will stay at the same level or continue to increase.